Pope condemns neglect of the elderly

"How many times are old people just discarded, victims of an abandonment that is tantamount to hidden euthanasia?"

At a gathering of some 40,000 elderly people in St. Peter's Square, Rome, Pope Francis said that neglect of the old is "hidden euthanasia".

He also said that homes for the elderly should not become prisons. "How many times are old people just discarded, victims of an abandonment that is tantamount to hidden euthanasia? This is the result of a throw-away culture that is hurting our world so much", the Pope stated. [Reuters, 28 September]